A man with the means to buy his own skyscraper and emblazon his name across the top, Sorenson instead is content to work in what he jokingly refers to as the "grunge" part of town. It is here, for the past 41 years, that he has spent his time dreaming up new inventions and amassing a fortune.

And he has done it his way.

His political leanings depend on the person running for office. He has given campaign contributions to Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Rocky Anderson. He likes Republican Gov. Mike Leavitt and speaks fondly of Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson.

Until a few years ago, Sorenson was content to fly coach.

"I enjoyed being in coach as well as being up front," he said. "If the plane went down, we went down together."

He once owned a private jet, but he sold it several years ago to Alcoa for $1 million more than he paid for it.

And while he may drive to work in a new Lexus, he is content to eat lunch at his office.

Notwithstanding his phenomenal success, the world's 177th-richest man, worth an estimated $2.2 billion according to Forbes magazine, still harbors suspicions about life in the spotlight.

"I think he would like the publicity, but he considers it unseemly to think it. He has elected to keep quiet," said Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jack Anderson, a longtime Sorenson friend.

Lingering memories of the U. uproar just might have something to do with his media shyness.

At the height of the controversy, fellow Salt Lake billionaire Huntsman urged Sorenson to give the school the money and drop the renaming idea.

"A philanthropist does not ask how the money is being used and what he is going to get in return. He is just interested in helping other people, period," Huntsman said. "If you give money with strings attached, it's not a gift, it's a business transaction."

Sorenson said he blames himself for the ruckus. He readily admits he wanted to be recognized. However, he also says he learned from that experience.

"I don't need my name on anything," Sorenson said. "When you give, you give without expectations, without requiring a reward."

In the past 15 years, Sorenson appears to have walked that talk.

In 2001, he formed the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, primarily for the purpose of giving to the LDS Church. Through that foundation, $5 million was donated to the church's Perpetual Education Fund, established to help people climb out of poverty through education.

"Jim has been very gracious to the LDS Church, and in that context I have great respect for him," Huntsman said.